1 It all comes down to sulfur
Gunpowder, explosives, ammo — trace any raid cost back far enough and it's sulfur. So the real question in every raid isn't "how many rockets," it's "how much sulfur does this path cost, and what's the cheapest way to spend it?"
Here are the rough sulfur costs per explosive (craft totals, including the gunpowder/charcoal that goes into them):
| Explosive | ≈ Sulfur each | Best at |
|---|---|---|
| Explosive 5.56 Ammo | ~25 / round | Doors and soft walls — cheapest per HP, but you need a lot and a gun to fire it. |
| Satchel Charge | ~480 | Early-game doors. Cheap but unreliable (they can dud). |
| Rocket | ~1,400 | Reliable all-rounder for walls and tougher doors. |
| C4 (Timed Charge) | ~2,200 | Fewest needed, instant, no aiming — but the priciest per charge. |
2 Cheapest isn't always fewest
This is where most raiders overspend. The explosive that needs the fewest charges is rarely the one that costs the least sulfur. Take a Sheet Metal Door:
| Method | Count | ≈ Sulfur |
|---|---|---|
| C4 | 1 | ~2,200 |
| Satchel Charge | 4 | ~1,920 |
| Explosive 5.56 | ~63 | ~1,575 |
One C4 is the fastest and simplest, but explosive ammo does the same job for roughly 600 less sulfur — if you have the gun and the time. The "right" answer depends on whether you're optimizing for sulfur, speed, or stealth.
3 Soft side vs hard side
Walls take far more damage on the hard side (the smooth outer face) than the soft side (the textured inner face with support lines). Whenever you can reach a soft side — through a doorway, over a foundation, from an adjacent building — you raid for a fraction of the cost.
This is why experienced raiders scout for a weak entry instead of blasting the most obvious wall. A few satchels into a soft side can replace a multi-rocket hard-side breach.
4 The "low HP" finisher trick
Some explosive counts leave a structure at a sliver of health — say 50 HP — rather than fully destroyed. Throwing another full C4 or rocket at that sliver is pure waste. Instead, finish it with cheap damage: a few rifle rounds, a melee tool, or a single satchel. Raid charts mark these cases with an asterisk; our calculator flags them so you don't double up.
5 Plan the whole path before you farm
The most expensive mistake is farming for "a raid" without mapping the actual route to the loot. Count every door and wall between you and the target boxes, pick the cheapest viable explosive for each, then total the sulfur. Farm that number plus a small buffer — not a vague "a few boxes of sulfur."
Let the calculator do the math.
Add every door and wall on your route and get the cheapest explosive mix plus total sulfur to farm — counts kept current with the game.
6 Quick recap
- Every raid is a sulfur budget — think in sulfur, not "rockets."
- Fewest charges ≠ cheapest; compare sulfur per method.
- Hit soft sides whenever you can reach them.
- Finish low-HP structures with cheap damage, not another explosive.
- Map the full path, total the cost, then farm.
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